Sarah Sjöström had barely swum home a European Championship silver medal on Saturday evening in the 50-meter freestyle, in a time of 23.86, before American Kate Douglass struck. Twice.
First, she took back the world record from teammate Gretchen Walsh in the trials at the Pan Pacific Championships in California with a time of 23.49.
Then she crushed it in the final, where she swam 23.19.
Just two months ago, Sjöström was the world record holder with 23.61.
“Very impressed”
Antonio Lutula has been in contact with Sjöström, the Olympic gold medalist in the 50-meter freestyle, who returned home from the European Championships on Sunday.
"She was very impressed, it was truly groundbreaking swimming. I saw that she had congratulated Kate on social media," says Lutula.
Sjöström's coach watched both of Douglass's races and when asked what stands out, he says:
First and foremost is the start and time to 15 meters. Here both Kate Douglass and Gretchen Walsh are in a league of their own.
Focus for Sjöström
Lutula also highlights Douglass's arm length and her high position in the water.
He believes that even Sarah Sjöström can reach the new world record time. He describes four focus points: the start, the frequency, the arm stroke length and the strength.
Now it will be very much about continuing to work on the underwater part and this particular time to 15 meters. Sarah actually had her fastest races ever up to 15 meters in both the semi-final and the final. So we have only been working on it for six or seven weeks, so it feels very good, says Lutula.
